SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REQUIRES AN INTEGRATING DISCIPLINE TO ADDRESS ITS UNIQUE PROBLEMS – DESIGN THINKING

Abstract

Sustainable development has taken centre stage in our global conscience. Until recently, we have been focused on economic prosperity, driven by the mechanistic worldview of the scientific method. Once the cracks appeared, as a society, we have been looking for a deeper meaning and approach to life. Through a literature review, the paper proposes that current ‘experts’, using the engineering profession as an example, are not able to address the wicked problems confronting us, since they prevail within the reductionist mode of knowledge production. We need design thinkers - who are natural systemic practitioners -to solve systemic problems, which is characterised by sustainable development.